How To Understand Vibration Analysis Basics

Vibration is the repeating motion of an object around an equilibrium position which is the position attained when the force acting on the object is zero. Desirable vibration is vibration needed for devices or machines to function properly like the reed of harmonica. A reed is a vibrating material used to produce sound in harmonica and other musical instruments. Undesirable vibration is unwanted vibration. This is usually caused by imbalanced device like vibration of mechanical devices and vehicles. Vibration analysis helps detect problems on machines or devices. This will be beneficial because you will be able to repair the machines or devices immediately before the damages get worse. This will be cheaper than repairing badly damaged machines or having to replace these with new ones.

Here are the steps on how to understand vibration analysis basics.

Free and forced vibration. These are the two types of vibrations. Learning more about these is a good start to understand the basics of vibration analysis. Free vibration occurs when force is initially applied to the device then letting it vibrate freely for multiple times until it stops vibrating, like when you pull a kid on a swing. Forced vibration is when alternating motion is applied to the device. An example for this is a shaking washing machine caused by imbalance.

Measure vibration. There are different instruments used in measuring vibration. This is very important to determine if the vibration is caused by imbalance or damage on the machine or device. This will allow you to earlier detect what needs to be repaired to avoid more expensive repair. Vibration pick-ups and accelerometers are devices used to measure vibration. Velocity pick-ups are used to measure vibration frequencies higher than their own natural frequency. These produce electrical signal relative to the vibration speed of the device or machine being checked. The electrical signal output of accelerometers tells the vibration acceleration of the device or machine being tested. It’s also important to monitor the vibration of the devices or machines. This is to make sure that these are working well and are in good condition. Once you feel that there is something wrong with the vibration of the device, use your vibration instrument to get an accurate result.

Vibration Analysis Resources. There are vibration analysis training and courses that you can attend to know the basics of vibration analysis as well as detailed information about this. You can find a vibration training school near you or you can search online. There are several sites offering vibration analysis training. Some of these sites are vibrationschool.com, vib.com and mobiusinstitute.com. There are also different sites on the Internet, which will give you more information on the instruments used for vibration analysis. Some of these sites are ni.com and hofmann-global.com. You can also check maintenanceresources.com for more vibration analysis resources. The site contains links, which you can click for details about CD-ROMs available for computer-based vibration analysis training as well as videos, books and tools to use as resources, which are all about vibration analysis.

With the information and resources provided in this article, you will start to understand the basics of vibration analysis.